Hoffmann's Tales

Swanilda & Franz (Love Story)

Franz climbed across the barrier of the balcony and saw Coppelia, sitting by the table. He was unaware that Coppelius was there.

“Is it really you, Coppelia? I can’t believe my eyes! Why aren’t you sleeping? Are you waiting for me? I’ve come to take you from this prison. Let’s run away!” Franz whispered urgently and reached out his hand to Coppelia. But an iron grip clamped down on his shoulder.

“What do you want? You want to run away with Coppelia, don’t you?” shouted Coppelius and an ugly grin came over his face.

“Well! Let’s have a talk. I’m not as hard as people say… Let’s drink and talk. Come in,” said Coppelius and show the way to the room with his hand hospitably.

They came into the room. Coppelius took a bottle of wine and glasses from the cupboard.

“What shall we drink to?” said Coppelius in a friendly way.

“To your daughter’s beauty,” answered Franz.

They lifted their glasses. Franz drank the wine but Coppelius spat his wine onto the floor. Franz noticed nothing. Franz could hardly refuse to drink with Coppelius, because Coppelius was in a good mood. He smiled at Franz and asked: “So you want to ask the hand of my lovely daughter?”

Franz agreed and looked towards Coppelia but she was lost from view behind the curtains. But he noticed a pair of eyes between the folds of the curtains. The eyes were watching him with fear, with sadness, with pity and with something like love. Those blue and shining eyes resembled Swanilda. Franz wasn’t mistaken, but he didn’t realize that it was really Swanilda. Coppelius interrupted his thoughts. He shook Franz roughly and repeated the question: “Do you want to ask the hand of my lovely daughter?”

Franz looked at Coppelius and wanted to say something but he couldn’t. He closed his eyes and was about to faint. Poor Swanilda watched the scene from her hiding-place. She felt a strange, dreadful fear. “What’s happened with Franz? What are Coppelius’s plans? Why did he spit the wine onto the floor? Why didn’t he drink it?” asked Swanilda herself and at that very moment she heard the splintering of glass. Franz fell to the floor. A sudden thought made Swanilda tremble with awfulness: “Coppelius has killed Franz. Franz’s dead!” She could hardly manage to stifle her scream.

While Franz was lying on the floor, Coppelius leaped up from his chair and went to the bookcase. He reached for his spectacles, and hurriedly turned over the pages of one book after another. He was mumbling something to himself very softly. Swanilda didn’t understand anything. The old man continued to search through the book: “Not that one… not that one… Wherever is it?” Finally it looked as if he found the right one. He placed the heavy book on the table, then he took Franz and put him on the chair.

Swanilda noticed that Franz opened his eyes for a few seconds. “He is alive but unconscious,” thought Swanilda and breathed a sign of relief. Suddenly Coppelius moved quickly towards the window. Swanilda was sure that he was coming for her.

Her heart was beating like a hammer. “Coppelius knew about me all the time and now he is going to kill me!” Thought Swanilda and tried to hold her breath.

But the old man went straight to his daughter and said: “At last, at last my darling, our time has come!” He dragged Coppelia in her chair into the room carefully and slowly put her besides Franz. The girl sat as always – bent over her book.

Coppelius put on his glasses, opened the book, and tried to find a certain page. His hands shook nervously as he searched through the book. At last he found the right page. There was an evil glint in his eyes. He put his left hand on Franz’s head and his right hand on Coppelia’s head, and began to chant a magic formula in a low voice:

“Her life depends upon his help,

They are connected with my hands.

Let his soul go through my arms,

Let my daughter be alive!

Let him sleep and live in his dream till sunrise,

Let my daughter feel herself in real life!”

When Coppelius stopped chanting, Franz’s face began to pale. It seemed that all Franz’s blood was drawn away. At the same time Coppelia’s face became delicate pink. She fluttered her eyelashes and opened her eyes. Her lips trembled, and she took a deep breath. Swanilda looked as if she had been sleeping for years. Franz’s shoulders sagged downwards, and there was no sign of life in his body.

Coppelia stood up. Her book fell to the floor. She looked around the room with great curiosity. She stepped over the book and went to the bookcase. Everything was new and interesting for her.

Coppelia’s movements were unsure and rough. She moved like a clockwork doll.

“She is alive! She is alive!” cried Coppelius and clapped his hands in triumph. He looked like one out of his mind. He was dancing and jumping around Coppelia. He resembled a bear dancing on its hind legs.

Coppelius moved to embrace Coppelia, but she pushed him aside. She looked at the old man as if she saw him for the first time. Coppelius invited her to dance with a gesture but she ignored him. Her eyes moved over Coppelius’s ugly features. It seemed she didn’t like the man.

She began to dance around the room herself. She danced slowly at first but then more and more quickly with grace and beauty. She wasn’t a mechanical doll any longer. She was real! She was alive!

In crazy joy Coppelius continued his bear dance and repeated himself: “I’ve achieved the thing that no one in the world has achieved before. She is alive! She is alive!”

Suddenly Coppelia stopped and came nearer to the table. “What an enormous book it is! What does it say?” she asked Coppelius. She turned the pages and, full of curiosity, began to read the strange words aloud.

Only then Coppelius realized that his daughter spoken for the first time. Her voice was crystal clear. “How lovely her voice is!” said he to himself. But he didn’t want Coppelia to read that book of magic. He grabbed the book away from the girl, put it on the shelf and said: “There is nothing interesting for a young girl.”

Coppelia pretended that she wasn’t interested in magic and went to the door. Coppelius followed her. As soon as he was far enough from the shelf, Coppelia jumped to it and took the book.

“Catch me!” cried Coppelia and whirled around. She was spinning faster and faster, drawing wider and wider circles. Poor Coppelius was following her. His head began to reel, his breath came in gasps. He could hardly bear it. He was sobbing in pain and spluttering with rage. But she twirled like a storm and didn’t want to stop. At last Coppelius fell half-dead into the armchair. Coppelia burst out laughing at the expression on his face.

Suddenly Coppelia saw Franz. She didn’t notice him before. “Who is this young man? Why is he sleeping here? Why doesn’t he go home?” asked Coppelia.

“This is my friend. He worked hard yesterday and got tired. Please, don’t awake him. He’ll go home in the morning,” answered Coppelius but returned to thoughts of the magic book: “My daughter mustn’t read this book. She mustn’t know that I’ve put Franz under a spell. She mustn’t know that his soul lives now in her body. She mustn’t know that she isn’t real. She mustn’t know that she can be alive only while he is sleeping. ”

Coppelia sat into the armchair. She seemed suddenly extremely tired. “I’m exhausted! I want to sleep very much,” said Coppelia and yawned. Her head drooped, and her hands went limp, the book slipped out of her hands and fell onto the floor.

Coppelius quickly picked up the book, put it into the bookcase, and turned the key to close the door. Then he put the key into his coat pocket and came to Coppelia: “Oh, my dear! You’re really tired. It’s high time to go to bed. Let me show your bedroom, sweetheart. Come on!” said Coppelius and helped his daughter get up. They left the room and slowly went along the corridor to Coppelia’s bedroom. Coppelia’s bedroom was well-decorated. There was a wide and comfortable bed in the middle of it. There she was going to sleep for the first time in her life.

Swanilda was nervous and hesitating. She wanted to help Franz very much but what could she do for him? She was on the verge of tears. She felt very, very unhappy.

Coppelius came back very soon. “Are you still sleeping, my friend?” It’s wonderful! I’ve come to take you to your eternal rest,” said Coppelius gladly. He opened the bookcase hurriedly and took the magic book with trembling hands.

“Now I’m going to put you under the spell again, but you’ll fall asleep not for a few hours but for the rest of your life. You will sleep sweetly, as my daughter will live happily!” almost singed Coppelius.

“On his help her life depends,

You are connected with my hands.

Let him be cold and dead,

Let her be alive, well and never sad.

Let my arms be a bridge for you,

Let my cast come true!”

Swanilda couldn’t bear it any longer. Coppelius’s words filled Swanilda with horror. It was enough to make Swanilda’s hair stand on end. She screamed.

The girl’s scream made Coppelius’s blood turned to ice water. There he stood breathless, his eyes shining, his hands trembling. He cast an angry glance at Franz.

As Swanilda’s scream brought Coppelius to a standstill, it brought Franz to life. He moved slightly to change his uncomfortable position, and rubbed his eyes. With an awful effort he woke up as if he came from another world. Then he stretched, rose up slowly, and looked around.

A mysterious and frightening dream was running through his head. “Where on earth am I? What a strange place it is! How long have I been sleeping here?” asked Franz himself but he had no answers.

“And where is Swanilda? I’ve heard her scream! It was her voice. The voice I knew so well, the voice I love so much. My dear Swanilda! Where are you?” Franz’s own voice was full of tender concern. He stood in the middle of the room and cast a questioning glance towards Coppelius.

Coppelius realized that Franz wasn’t under the spell any longer. The girl’s scream broke the spell completely.

Swanilda slipped from behind the curtains and went towards Franz. He took Swanilda gently in his arms and kissed her tenderly.

Coppelius was helpless. “Go, go! Get out of here!” cried Coppelius and pushed them to the window. “Go back where you came from!”

Franz and Swanilda climbed across the barrier of the balcony onto the ladder. Franz still didn’t understand what had happened to him. Swanilda felt very happy because Franz had managed to escape. They reached the ground safely and ran away without looking back. Coppelius muttered and swore, then howled with rage.

ACTIVITIES AND EXERCISES

I. Comprehension Task. Who said what?

Write the name in brackets.

1. “Why aren’t you sleeping? Are you waiting for me? I’ve come to take you from this prison. Let’s run away!” (________________)

2. “What an enormous book it is! What does it say?” (________________)

3. “There is nothing interesting for a young girl.” (_________________)

4. “Who is this young man? Why is he sleeping here? Why doesn’t he go home?” (_____________)